Most of us were taught when we were young to not ask so many questions and do what you’re told. Don’t stick out and people won’t notice you, keep your mouth shut and you won’t get in trouble.
Now is the time to let go of those bad habits and learn to become a person who believes in what they think and has the confidence to speak up.
If you did all the exercises in the previous chapters, you might have noticed a change in the way you work. Your thoughts should be less cluttered; you are more focused and able to identify redundancy much faster than before. You’re much better at making decisions for yourself and your ability to see the big picture has improved.
You may have experienced situations when you’ve had a good idea, tried to express it, but someone who just doesn’t want to listen shuts you down by opposing you with any idea they can think of (whether it is dumb or not) and is able to sound convincing because they speak in a louder voice and you get so freaked out that any belief you had in your idea is lost in the depths the abyss.
We’ll talk about overcoming your fear of speaking up later. For now, in order to present an idea effectively, you need to do two things:
- Do your research
Identify the pros and cons of something and come up with 2 to 3 simple realistic solutions that can be used to overcome each con.
Make sure you truly believe these reasons. Having 2 to 3 reasons allows you to have multiple comebacks in the event someone is able to refute your first reason and taking the reasons to heart give you the confidence to respond even in difficult situations.
It is very easy to come up with solutions that sound simple but that you wouldn’t implement yourself. Look deeper, and propose solutions you believe in.
- Take a moment to listen
People can rant as much as they want, but they cannot refute logical comebacks with clear solutions.
Whenever someone choosing to yell on or rant, listen to what they have to say and think carefully about what they are saying before you respond. When you respond, look them directly in the eye and speak in a clear and calm voice.
Do not raise your voice or sound angry as this make you look less credible when you speak.
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Yasuo Long believes that all employees should have the right to design their lifestyle according to their needs in order to maintain their health, their relationships and their happiness. In pursuit of this, he quit the 9-to-5 and became a telecommuter to give himself the time and mental freedom to discover what it really means to live with direction and purpose.
